[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, everyone.
I'm here at Marvel Studios with the head of visual development,
Ryan Meinerding.
Hello, sir.
Hello.
I wish we could go to your office,
but apparently it's full of spoilers?
There's a lot of stuff on the walls that people can't see.
Well, I have an NDA, so I'm going to find out
all the secrets after this interview when
the cameras aren't rolling.
But for now, let's talk about Mysterio.
When me and the rest of the fans saw the trailer,
we were like holy smokes, that is one big, swashbuckling,
heroic looking Mysterio.
And he has a pretty kind of fun campy
origin story in the comics.
So how do you start to play with that
in turning it into that look?
With his look from the comics, because it's essentially--
in some version, it's more like a green onesie.
LORRAINE CINK: Yeah.
RYAN MEINERDING: The idea of it being more
of a classic superhero suit meant we were looking at things
we've done for Vision--
just saying, OK, how could we translate
that into something that was reasonable for Mysterio?
See, now that you've said it's a onesie, all I can wonder
is if it has little buttons in the back.
[LAUGHING]
RYAN MEINERDING: It doesn't.
It has a zipper somewhere, but no--
no buttons.
It's Mysterio-ous, though.
Yeah, very nice.
[LAUGHING]
One of the things we do just to automatically make
something feel more real in some ways
is just to make it metallic.
[LAUGHING]
I mean, the second you use a metallic paint on his suit,
it just feels more real.
It gives life to the--
when he's moving around, there's reflections playing off of it,
and it just doesn't feel dead or flat.
He's got such a long comic book
history from way back in 1964.
Where did you start with those original Ditko drawings
and bring it into today?
I mean, I always love looking back at the old artwork.
The older it is, the better, because it usually starts
from such a unique place.
And that's one of the reasons why MCU characters tend to end
up looking sort of more unique.
With the Ditko stuff, I mean, he drew hands so well,
and he also--
the weirdness of the characters really came through,
whether it was in Spider-Man or Mysterio or in Doctor Strange--
and then also just, the main icon being that fishbowl.
Like, how can we get that in there
and-- and have it not look goofy?
LORRAINE CINK: Well, and that's an interesting question,
too, because one of the things I always
think about-- that fishbowl look in the comics-- it's so cool.
But you're like, how does he get his head in there--
Right.
--if it is a perfectly round sphere?
So how do you solve for that?
So we were actually trying to do that.
We were seeing if early on it would
be better if we turned it into more
of an actual head-friendly shape.
And then you do it, and it just doesn't look like Mysterio.
And that's one of the things that, when you start down
these roads of-- of looking at what was done
in the past from the comics and seeing how to translate it
for a screen, there's so many problems
that are solved for us that we don't
necessarily even register.
So I tried to do other versions of the big fishbowl head
without the cloak or a smaller cloak,
and it just doesn't work.
Ditko got it right the first time.
There's so many fun little details from the comics that
always appear in the films.
I'm a huge comic book reader and fan,
I know our fans are as well.
Do you have maybe three little Easter eggs for us
that you can tell us from the original visual design?
For Mysterio, specifically?
Mm-hmm.
I mean, I think working in eyes as many places
as we could--
I think we got them here on the clasps.
They're in his-- when he uses his powers,
there's sort of a triangle with an eye in it.
There's other very subtle things that I
don't know if you would really want to see them if you--
But w--
[LAUGHING]
I want to know.
If you look at something like--
classic superhero costumes usually
have some version of a letter-- a symbol or a letter on it.
Yeah.
Mysterio doesn't in the comics, typically,
other than the eye clasps--
sort of did that to Mysterio.
There's a bunch of vertical bands around his stomach
that are essentially Ms that are repeating.
LORRAINE CINK: I love that.
RYAN MEINERDING: It's very subtle,
and once you see it you can't unsee it, so beware.
[LAUGHING]
OK.
Also, I want to say that you took a bold move
and you gave Mysterio a beard.
What's-- what's up with bearded Mysterio--
RYAN MEINERDING: Bearded Mysterio.
LORRAINE CINK: --besides the fact
that Jake Gyllenhaal looks great with a beard?
I think a lot of it has to do with Jake Gyllenhaal
looking great with a beard.
OK.
I mean, in a lot of ways, this movie
is Peter trying to come to terms with being his own hero
and not living under Tony's shadow.
And I think having another mentor
that also had a goatee also is a symbol of age, in some ways--
being seasoned in the world.
And I-- and more directly relating it to Tony,
I think that connection is great to have visually.
I got to view some of your iterations
of the Mysterio entire design.
How many iterations do you think you went through?
RYAN MEINERDING: Probably-- he's one
of those characters who can go in a lot
of different directions.
Any of the characters that really have
a very unique and interesting origin visual
means that when you translate it to in a story world
that needs to be more realistic, it needs to be
grounded in something else.
So we've-- I don't know.
I probably tried between 60 and 70, I think.
It took about that many to get through, um,
for the producers and Jon to really feel like it--
it was working.
One of the best parts of this job
is really being able to work with amazing filmmakers and--
and turn their ideas into something
that's real based on the comic origins of the characters.
Marvel Studios is unique in, you know,
really how much we're able to try and translate
from the comics, and how truthful we
try to be true to the uniqueness and the greatness
of those icons.
And working with the filmmakers to do that is--
is a real treat.
And you've been here since the very beginning of Marvel
Studios, is that right?
Yeah, I was fortunate enough to get hired
by Jon Favreau on Iron Man 1.
So it was-- design the Mark I Iron Man
suit, which was a lot of fun.
I'm just, like, sitting here with a little piece
of Marvel history. That's you.
Oh.
That's you.
That's very kind.
[LAUGHING]
Thank you so much for talking with us.
Oh, thank you for having me.
It's been great.
And you guys, be sure to go see Spider-Man: Far From
Home in theaters on July 2.
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